TRANS VIEW
Mental Health And The Transgender Community The trans community tends to deal with many types of mental health issues — all of which need to be addressed. By Daniel Tirabassi Transgender people that go through a medical transition need to have an important psychological diagnosis of gender dysphoria. However, there are many other mental health issues that the trans community deals with that do not get addressed, often due to the required dysphoria diagnosis. There are also misdiagnoses that occur because of a person being unaware of their own gender identity. And, to top it all off, there are general issues that the community deals with that are rarely properly dealt with in transgender people. The misdiagnoses are a great place to start when it comes to the mental health of people who may be transgender. One popular misdiagnosis that many transgender people 14 | JANUARY 2019
have experienced while coming to terms with their identity is bipolar disorders. Often gender dysphoria can present similarly to bipolar disorders. If a therapist or psychologist is not familiar gender dysphoria, they can believe that the highs and lows of dealing with a variant gender identity is a bipolar disorder. Another very common diagnosis in the transgender community, though not always manifesting as a misdiagnosis, is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It is not known if these disorders and gender dysphoria have any actual connection or if this is just an odd coincidence, but it is a fact that needs to be made clear. In a group that I facilitate twice a month, about 80% of attendees have stated that they have been
diagnosed at some point in life with one or both of these disorders. This can lead to an issue that many LGBTQ+ people deal with — addiction. It is common for LGBTQ+ people to cope with their identity by heavily using drugs and alcohol. The LGBTQ+ community actually has the highest addiction statics when it comes to percentage of population. The transgender community in particular has the highest statics within the LGBTQ+ community. Many end up having easy access to drugs such as Valium and Klonopin, due to a diagnosis of a bipolar disorder, and drugs such as Adderall, due to the diagnosis of ADD or ADHD. These drugs are very easy to misuse and can be done in a way that is easy to hide away from the world. This means that many suffer with their addiction quietly, making TRUE Q MAGAZINE
